Indigenous

Crystal Smith (far left) and husband Raymond Shaw were unable to register their newborn son’s name because it uses Kwak’wala characters. Photo contributed

Province refuses to register B.C. baby’s First Nations name

Registrar General office says λugʷaləs K’ala’ask Shaw contravened Vital Statistics Agency standards

Crystal Smith (far left) and husband Raymond Shaw were unable to register their newborn son’s name because it uses Kwak’wala characters. Photo contributed
A property affected by November flooding of the Nicola River is seen along Highway 8 on the Shackan Indian Band, northwest of Merritt, B.C., on Thursday, March 24, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

After the flood: First Nations along B.C.’s Highway 8 work on recovery

People grapple with tough questions about how best to rebuild after twin climate change disasters

A property affected by November flooding of the Nicola River is seen along Highway 8 on the Shackan Indian Band, northwest of Merritt, B.C., on Thursday, March 24, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
A woman holds an eagle feather and red dress as she listens to speakers during National Day of Truth and Reconciliation ceremonies on Parliament Hill September 30, 2021 in Ottawa. Red dresses have become a symbol for missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in Canada. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

B.C. announces $5.34 million to combat violence against Indigenous women

Funds will be delivered through the B.C. Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres

A woman holds an eagle feather and red dress as she listens to speakers during National Day of Truth and Reconciliation ceremonies on Parliament Hill September 30, 2021 in Ottawa. Red dresses have become a symbol for missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in Canada. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
Amanda Vick is part of the first graduating class of the Indigenous law program at the University of Victoria. (Photo courtesy of University of Victoria)

Students of the world’s first Indigenous law program set to graduate in B.C.

Graduates to influence areas of law such as constitutionalism, Indigenous governance

Amanda Vick is part of the first graduating class of the Indigenous law program at the University of Victoria. (Photo courtesy of University of Victoria)
Nicola-Cree Belcourt’s family members hold posters of the young woman near the place in Port Alberni where her body was found on April 2, 2022. Her family is appealing to anyone with information on her death to please come forward. (SUBMITTED PHOTO)

Family of woman found dead in Port Alberni ‘call her home’ with Indigenous ceremony

Port Alberni RCMP are still looking for video, information into Merritt woman’s death

Nicola-Cree Belcourt’s family members hold posters of the young woman near the place in Port Alberni where her body was found on April 2, 2022. Her family is appealing to anyone with information on her death to please come forward. (SUBMITTED PHOTO)
Copies of the 2022 federal budget are seen in the media lockup, ahead of the tabling of the federal budget, in Ottawa, on Thursday, April 7, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

Budget 2022: Liberals devote $4.3 billion to Indigenous housing needs

Budget also addresses ongoing search for unmarked graves at the former sites of residential schools

Copies of the 2022 federal budget are seen in the media lockup, ahead of the tabling of the federal budget, in Ottawa, on Thursday, April 7, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
Maxwell Johnson is seen in Bella Bella, B.C.. The Indigenous man has filed complaints with the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal and the Canadian Human Rights Commission after he and his granddaughter were handcuffed when they tried to open a bank account. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Heiltsuk Nation, Damien Gillis)

Vancouver police officers suspended for handcuffing Indigenous man, granddaughter at BMO

Maxwell Johnson, 12-year-old granddaughter arrested without cause for trying to open bank account

Maxwell Johnson is seen in Bella Bella, B.C.. The Indigenous man has filed complaints with the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal and the Canadian Human Rights Commission after he and his granddaughter were handcuffed when they tried to open a bank account. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Heiltsuk Nation, Damien Gillis)
Grand Chief Clarence (Kat) Pennier. (Sto:lo Tribal Council)

Stólō Tribal Council embarking on interview project for survivors of St. Mary’s Residential School

‘It’s a humongous task, but it needs to be done,’ said Stólō Grand Chief Clarence Pennier

Grand Chief Clarence (Kat) Pennier. (Sto:lo Tribal Council)
University of British Columbia sociology professor, Kimberly Huyser, has been studying the impact of social factors on Indigenous people’s health throughout the pandemic. (UBC website)

Social factors make Indigenous people more vulnerable to COVID, says B.C. professor

Poor access to health care, lack of clean drinking water, among factors

University of British Columbia sociology professor, Kimberly Huyser, has been studying the impact of social factors on Indigenous people’s health throughout the pandemic. (UBC website)
President of Sto:lo Tribal Council Tyrone McNeil (left) and Grand Chief Stewart Phillip at a news conference Tuesday, April 5, 2022, in Vancouver, B.C. (Jane Skrypnek/Black Press Media)

Alliance against open-net fish farms calls for feds to follow through on phasing out commitment

First Nations and fishing organizations renew call for feds to move away from current fish farm structure

President of Sto:lo Tribal Council Tyrone McNeil (left) and Grand Chief Stewart Phillip at a news conference Tuesday, April 5, 2022, in Vancouver, B.C. (Jane Skrypnek/Black Press Media)
Archbishop Richard Smith shares his observations regarding his trip to Rome, in Edmonton on Monday April 4, 2022. Archbishop Smith was part of the delegation that met with the Pope Francis over the Roman Catholic Church’s role in Canada’s residential school system. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson

Archbishop says pope wants to repeat his residential school apology on Canadian soil

Archbishop of Edmonton says Pope Francis statement last week just the first step on road to healing

Archbishop Richard Smith shares his observations regarding his trip to Rome, in Edmonton on Monday April 4, 2022. Archbishop Smith was part of the delegation that met with the Pope Francis over the Roman Catholic Church’s role in Canada’s residential school system. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson
Former national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, Phil Fontaine, stands outside St. Peter’s Square at the end of a meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican, Thursday, March 31, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

‘Never losing hope:’ Former national chief says apology reflects decades-long fight

It was 13 years ago that Phil Fontaine requested an apology from then-Pope Benedict

Former national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, Phil Fontaine, stands outside St. Peter’s Square at the end of a meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican, Thursday, March 31, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Members of the Assembly of First Nations perform in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Thursday, March 31, 2022. First Nations, Inuit and Métis delegates are set to have a final meeting with Pope Francis in the Vatican today. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Alessandra Tarantino

Pope Francis apologizes to Indigenous delegates for Canada’s residential schools

‘I want to say to you with all my heart: I am very sorry’

Members of the Assembly of First Nations perform in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Thursday, March 31, 2022. First Nations, Inuit and Métis delegates are set to have a final meeting with Pope Francis in the Vatican today. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Alessandra Tarantino
Former national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, Phil Fontaine, outside St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican on Sunday, March 27, 2022. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

‘Hope for change:’ First Nations delegates meet with Pope Francis

Meeting with the head of the Roman Catholic Church lasted two hours rather than scheduled one

Former national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, Phil Fontaine, outside St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican on Sunday, March 27, 2022. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
The memorial at the Centennial Flame for children who died at Indian Residential Schools, in Ottawa, on Thursday, Aug. 19, 2021. Ottawa is eyeing a five-year timeline to build a national monument to honour survivors of its residential schools system. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

Building national monument honouring residential school students to take five years

Ottawa is eyeing a five-year timeline to build a national monument to…

The memorial at the Centennial Flame for children who died at Indian Residential Schools, in Ottawa, on Thursday, Aug. 19, 2021. Ottawa is eyeing a five-year timeline to build a national monument to honour survivors of its residential schools system. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is framed by a eagle statue as he visits Tk’emlups te Secwepemc in Kamloops, B.C. Monday, Oct. 18, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

First Nations need long-term funding for residential school investigations: chief

Funding for mental health and well-being of residential school survivors, families, and communities

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is framed by a eagle statue as he visits Tk’emlups te Secwepemc in Kamloops, B.C. Monday, Oct. 18, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
NDP MP Mumilaaq Qaqqaq holds a photo of Fr. Johannes Rivoire, who is wanted in Canada for abusing children in Nunavut but now resides in France, during a news conference calling on Minister of Justice David Lametti to investigate crimes against Indigenous people in Canada at residential schools, on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Thursday, July 8, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

Mounties lay new charge against Oblate priest, Inuit delegates ask Pope to intervene

Mounties have laid a new charge against a Roman Catholic priest who…

NDP MP Mumilaaq Qaqqaq holds a photo of Fr. Johannes Rivoire, who is wanted in Canada for abusing children in Nunavut but now resides in France, during a news conference calling on Minister of Justice David Lametti to investigate crimes against Indigenous people in Canada at residential schools, on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Thursday, July 8, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
A voter casts a ballot in the 2011 federal election in Toronto on May 2, 2011. Elections Canada has apologized to voters in three Ontario First Nations communities after breakdowns in communication led to them being denied their right to vote in the last election. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

Elections Canada report finds failures denied First Nations voting rights

Apologies given to voters in three Ontario First Nations communities

A voter casts a ballot in the 2011 federal election in Toronto on May 2, 2011. Elections Canada has apologized to voters in three Ontario First Nations communities after breakdowns in communication led to them being denied their right to vote in the last election. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
Pixie Wells, of the Metis community, talks to journalists after meeting Pope Francis in Rome, Monday, March 28, 2022. This week’s meetings, postponed from December because of the pandemic, are part of the Canadian church and government’s efforts to respond to Indigenous demands for justice, reconciliation and reparations - long-standing demands that gained traction last year after the discovery of hundreds of unmarked graves outside some of the schools. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

’Truth, justice and healing:’ Metis and Inuit delegates meet with Pope Francis

8 Metis delegates spent an hour with pontiff, 3 survivors shared stories of residential schools.

Pixie Wells, of the Metis community, talks to journalists after meeting Pope Francis in Rome, Monday, March 28, 2022. This week’s meetings, postponed from December because of the pandemic, are part of the Canadian church and government’s efforts to respond to Indigenous demands for justice, reconciliation and reparations - long-standing demands that gained traction last year after the discovery of hundreds of unmarked graves outside some of the schools. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Métis National Council President Cassidy Caron, shown in a handout photo, is part of the upcoming trip to the Vatican to meet Pope Francis. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO- Metis National Council-David Stobbe

‘Always had faith:’ Métis delegates say Vatican visit a step to repair relationship

Métis, First Nation and Inuit delegates flying to Rome for meetings with Pope Francis next week

Métis National Council President Cassidy Caron, shown in a handout photo, is part of the upcoming trip to the Vatican to meet Pope Francis. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO- Metis National Council-David Stobbe